


The True Gravity of the Situation

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Advice, Gen, Relationship Advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 18:39:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10471488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Ed looked out over the front yard, not wanting to let Al know that he’d verbally grabbed him by the collar and forced him to look into that scary reality that he was afraid of facing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had this and ‘Dear Ed’ in progress when I signed up for the yule exchange and since ‘Dear Ed’ finished first, I shelved this one. It is a little different, but similar enough that I didn’t want to post this one too soon after the other.

Winry brought the Elric brothers a pitcher of lemonade out to the front porch and excused herself for a nap, her baby bump consistently drawing Al’s attention away from Ed.  As Ed refilled his glass, he commented with a smirk, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were making eyes at my wife.”

Al apologized and fanned himself with his hat.  “I just never thought I’d see the day when she would look like that.”  He winked at Ed before grabbing his own glass, “And now you finally have proof that you lost your virginity!”

Ed’s face reddened ever so slightly.  “Shut up, Al.”  He changed the subject, telling his brother how he was working on building a bookcase for the baby’s room: his first woodworking project.  Ed’s eyes danced as he told Al of the story books he wanted to be sure the baby had, and maybe a space for a baseball mitt and room for things the child might create with alchemy one day, like the little ponies and birds he himself crafted in the early days.

“I can tell you one thing, I’m not gonna be anything like Hohenheim was as far as being a father,” he said with a defiant clench of his jaw.

Al hummed in thought and then asked, “Have you ever thought about what having this baby is going to mean?  How it’s going to change your entire world?”  Ed gave him a confused look and Al continued, “After Briggs, when we were in Lior with Dad, we talked a lot, and about a lot of things.  One of the things we talked at great length about is why he left.”

“I don’t know if I want to hear this right now, Al.”

“I think you’d better hear what our father had to say,” he replied.  “Dad said that he had the best of intentions when Mom became pregnant.  He wanted to be that kind of father who played catch and pushed his squealing kid on the swing, to go on fishing trips and family vacations, all that.  But when the reality of dirty diapers, feedings every three hours, colic, and a woman with the baby blues set in, he wasn’t prepared for all of that.  And for some reason I get the feeling that you aren’t prepared for that either.”

Ed looked out over the front yard, not wanting to let Al know that he’d verbally grabbed him by the collar and forced him to look into that scary and very real future that he was afraid of facing.  “I’ve heard that it’s not easy for the first three months or so…” he admitted quietly.

“I said the same thing.  Dad said you were a hellion until about your seven month birthday.  Take a moment to picture yourself after seven months of an infant constantly crying and you getting very little sleep, and then picture Winry after all that and add to it clogged milk ducts and chapped, bitten nipples.”

Suddenly Ed was very, _very_ afraid of what was going to happen after the baby was born.  “W-well…  He still didn’t have to up and leave!  He could have done something!”

“He didn’t leave right away, even though he could sense Father and his minions were up to no good.  It didn’t help matters that I was born so soon after you were.  And so he stayed until he knew Mom could handle it alone, because he couldn’t leave her when she needed him the most.”

Ed thought about it from that perspective, knowing there was a huge threat out there that only you could stop, and here you had a woman and two babies to care for…  And seeing it now for the first time from that very angle, Ed’s heart softened a great deal for his father.

“Do you think he wanted to leave us?” Al asked as took a sip from the sweating glass in his hand.  “Do you really think he wanted to walk away from the family he loved?  From his friends?”

“But that day he left he seemed so nonchalant about it all!” Ed barked back.  “If he didn’t want to go, he could have at least shown us that he was _a little_ reluctant to leave!”

“He had to steel himself so he could take care of business, Ed!  He thought he’d be gone for only a short while and be back.  He had no idea the situation would turn into the mess that it did.”  He sighed exasperatedly.  “All I’m saying is that you never took time to understand the reasons _why_ Dad did what he did.  You only knew that you missed him and wanted him around and never cared to know why he was gone.  What I’m suggesting to you now is to learn from his mistakes.”

Ed relaxed back into his chair.  “And how do I do that?”

“Put down the alchemy books, pick up the baby books Winry’s been reading, and talk to her about how you plan to get this baby to its seventh month.”  He smiled at his brother.  “You’re a professional studier, Brother!  Once you decide to become an expert on something, that’s exactly what you do.  It’s time to start becoming an expert on caring for the crankiest of babies.  And if you get lucky and have an easy baby, you’ll just be better prepared than most dads.”

Ed nodded and fanned himself with a folded up section of newspaper as the sun refused to sink any faster.  “I guess you’re right about that.  I shouldn’t be relying on Winry to know everything.”

“Besides,” Al said as he looked away from Ed, “When it comes time for Mei and I to start our family, I’m going to need someone who can show me the ropes.”

The sound of Ed’s roaring laughter was enough to let Al know Ed wasn’t sore about being forced to face reality, even if it did come with a price of being teased for wanting to make golden haired ‘bean babies’ with his beloved princess.


End file.
